Castello del Poggio, a brand of Zonin1821, announced a fresh rebrand by drinks design specialist Denomination to elevate its position in the U.S. market, and compete with challenger brands from within the sweet wine and Italian sectors.

Zonin1821, Gambellara (VI), Italy, approached Denomination because it wanted to address the new challenges it faces in the North American region and reassert itself as a market leader, it says.

To achieve this, Denomination has made a virtue of Castello del Poggio’s genuine Italian heritage — something that the U.S. market has always responded to very well — and driven home the quality of the wines with appropriate design cues, it explains.

“Castello del Poggio is one of very few brands in this sector with authentic Italian roots. It also has an upbeat ‘La Dolce Vita’ brand philosophy,” said Rowena Curlewis, chief executive officer of Denomination, in a statement. “But all this had become muted over previous design iterations, and there was insufficient stand-out on shelf. Our goal was to celebrate that legacy and joyful ethos with a lively and confident brand and packaging identity.”  

As well as working hard to attract consumers back to the brand through increased quality cues and a celebration of heritage and culture, the strategy and packaging identity also needed to provide a strong foundation for growth, so that new variants beyond the sweet wine category could be introduced in the future.

The design solution is a balance of superior wine cues and Italian style, the company says. The brand mark and crest are now contained within a shield. The crest has been redrawn to hero the “castello,” which appears on the label and embossed on the shoulder of the bottle, enhancing the quality story and making more of the Italian credentials. Beautifully crafted black and white illustrations of flowers, which represent the flavor profiles of each of the wines, appear on the labels and capsules. And the color palette across the range has been adjusted to modernize and achieve stand-out.

Francesco Zonin, vice president and seventh generation of this family company, said: “Denomination has celebrated what Castello del Poggio really is — a unique Italian brand worthy of note — and has given us the tools to communicate that to our target consumers. It’s also a flexible design solution. We’ve been able to introduce new variants, which fit perfectly into the portfolio. And the Moscato d’Asti treatment demonstrates how the range can be upscaled convincingly also.”

Curlewis added: “The illustrative style has provided a strong foundation for the brand to express itself, not only on pack, but also off pack. Creating a strong set of visual brand assets that will become a recognizable sign of Italian quality for years to come.”